1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a gauge mounting device and more particularly, to an apparatus for mounting an instrument gauge, or the like, to an instrument panel of a vehicle, such as an automobile, boat or an airplane. More specifically, the invention is a push-on and twist gauge mounting bracket with an improved locking means for biasing any standard annular gauge housing against the vehicle panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditionally, a typical method of mounting a gauge to an instrument panel requires an annular gauge housing placed through an aperture in an instrument panel and a mounting bracket attached to the housing from the backside of the instrument panel and a means to sandwich the annular gauge housing to the instrument panel between the annular gauge housing and the mounting bracket.
The most common method for attaching the mounting bracket is the use of mounting studs assembled to the gauge housing and mounting nuts are screwed onto said mounting studs after the mounting bracket, with holes through which the mounting studs pass, is placed over the mounting studs from the backside of the instrument panel.
A second method is by providing a screw thread on the outer wall of the gauge housing and a corresponding screw thread on the inner wall of the mounting bracket and the mounting bracket is screwed onto the housing from the backside of the vehicle panel.
The difficulties associated with these methods of mounting gauges stem from the ergonomic difficulties in the need to screw the bracket the entire length of the gauge housing making for extended assembly time particularly with extended threading on either the mounting studs or gauge housing is required to accommodate various thickness in vehicle panels.
The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,107 B1 to Nelson et al. issued Jun. 12, 2001 is an example on a mounting device using snap-together elements for engaging the gauge housing and bracket and sandwiching it between the vehicle panel and eliminating the ergonomic difficulties and assembly time required by the traditional mounting methods. This device has the disadvantage of necessitating a specially manufactured gauge housing with a plurality of annular and parallel ribs on the housing to interface with the mounting bracket. The improvement of this invention is that the mounting bracket assembly can be used with various standard gauge housings eliminating the necessity of specially manufactured gauge housings having annular and parallel ribs.
Other patented examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,049 B2 to Erben issued Jul. 29, 2003, U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,570 to Pearson issued Mar. 21, 1978. The disadvantage of these devices is the necessity of requiring teeth or threads on the body or housing of the gauge to engage the mounting bracket.
It was with knowledge of the foregoing disclosures representative of the state of the art that the present invention was conceived and has now been reduced to practice.